Trail Blazers: Player grades in crushing loss against the 76ers

The Portland Trail Blazers lost a last-second thriller to the Philadelphia 76ers 128-129. Here are their individual player grades.

The Portland Trail Blazers lost by one point after having a 21 point lead in the game. With Hassan Whiteside out for this game, the Blazers would have their hands full dealing with Al Horford and Tobias Harris down low in the paint.

Regardless, Portland managed to somehow get off to a hot start and kept their foot on the gas for most of the game. The 76ers caught fire in the 4th quarter and took their first lead of the game in the final minute. With only 2.2 seconds remaining on the clock, the game was ultimately decided by a game-winning 3-pointer from Furkan Korkmaz.

Here are the player grades from Saturday night’s action.

Damian Lillard was unconscious from the 3-point line in this game. Lillard made 8 3-pointers, which is the most made in a game by an NBA player this season. Dame started off great and only got better as the game progressed.

The Blazers started off hot in this game and it wasn’t until the second half that Lillard took over. Lillard was making a barrage of deep 3s and was creating a ton of space with his stepback. In the fourth quarter, the Blazers started to struggle and the only player wasn’t cold was Lillard. Dame made a bunch of big shots late in the game, but his shot was not the only thing that impacted the game late. The Blazers were down by one point and Lillard works his way out of a double team and kicks it out to Anfernee Simons in the corner for 3.

Dame impacted this game with his elite scoring and passing. This is not going to be the only time he makes this many 3-pointers in a game this season.

Rodney Hood was amazing against the 76ers! Hood was scoring from everywhere and it didn’t seem like he was ever going to miss a shot. Hood made 9 shots on 11 attempts. Hood also, had the highest plus/minus for the Blazers in this game with a +10.

Hood looked great on both ends of the floor. Rodney played great defense in this one, but only had one steal to show for it. Every time Hood touched the ball, he made a good play.

The only knock on Rodney Hood is that he was quiet on offense to start the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, Hood joined a long list of banged up Blazers as he went down with an injury late in this game. Hood was helped to the locker room after bumping his knee with another player. Hopefully, Hood doesn’t miss anytime as the Blazers already are dealing with other injuries to key contributors.

CJ McCollum struggled against the Sixers. CJ could never get going in this game. He never really impacted the game on either side of the floor. McCollum did have some good looks but failed to make the majority of these shots.

McCollum almost did nothing in this game, other than making an occasional shot. This performance was a big reason why the Blazers lost. The Blazers needed CJ late in the game to help out Lillard, as he did almost everything by himself.

Mario Hezonja started in this game in place for Hassan Whiteside. Hezonja dominated early and failed to repeat his early performance later in the game. Almost all of Mario’s stats came with in the first six minutes. Hezonja didn’t make a single shot after.

Mario continued to be a great facilitator and rebounder as the game went on, but with CJ struggling, Hezonja should have stepped up and made some shots.

Anthony Tolliver was very disappointing. The Blazers needed Tolliver to step up to replace Whiteside and Collins. Tolliver couldn’t protect the rim and didn’t play much of a role on offense. Al Horford completely outplayed Tolliver in this matchup.

This performance was not necessarily all Tolliver’s fault. Anthony Tolliver doesn’t have the size or skill set to compete against elite centers. The Blazers need to get another center on this roster that can actually replace Whiteside and Collins. If Whiteside misses any other games, the Blazers will have the same problem.

Tolliver is a good power forward in this league, but he should never start another game at center again.

Skal Labissiere should have been the starter in this game. Skal is the only actual center that suited up for Blazers against the 76ers.

Skal was very efficient from the field but struggled to get a rebound. Skal had only 4 rebounds in 23 minutes. The Blazers desperately needed a big to contest shots in the paint and to get rebounds. Skal did make some plays on defense, but for the most part he struggled to stop the Sixers’ bigs.

Anfernee Simons played great in only 14 minutes. Simons was great from beyond the arc and looked good on defense as well.

Simons also had the biggest play for the Blazers in this game. Anfernee made a huge go-ahead 3-point jumper with only 2 seconds left on the clock. This shot gave the Blazers a 2-point lead, only to have the game spoiled by the 76ers.

Simons proved that he is a clutch sharpshooter in this one. Anfernee should have got a lot more minutes, especially with McCollum struggling. Simons should receive a bigger role in games after this performance.

Kent Bazemore should have easily gotten an A in this game with the way he played on defense. Bazemore was a monster on defense. Nobody on the 76ers could score on Bazemore. Kent made a lot of hustle plays as well.

Bazemore didn’t do much on offense though, shooting only 2-5. Although his hustle and effort has been a great addition to Portland’s defense, the Blazers will need him to start hitting shots and become the ideal ‘3-and-D’ player next to Dame and CJ.

Next stop for the Portland Trail Blazers is Oakland, as they take on the Warriors on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. PT. Check back in here after the action for more post-game analysis.